Coughlin sets new swimming world record

MISSOURI -- Five-time Olympic medal winner Natalie Coughlin smashed her own world mark for the 100-meters backstroke to complete a remarkable record-breaking weekend for swimming.

Coughlin clocked 59.21 seconds at a star-studded meet in Missouri, lowering her previous world record in the event by 0.23 seconds.

At the same event on Saturday, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe set a new mark in the 200-meter backstroke while in Australia Eamon Sullivan smashed the 50-meter freestyle record of the great Russian Alexander Popov.

"II was thinking about barbecue and no warm down," Coughlin said after her race. "I really didn't expect it."

The world's elite swimmers are clearly in excellent shape heading into this year's Beijing Olympics, including six-time gold medal winner Michael Phelps who scored a pair of victories in Missouri.

Also on Sunday, Katie Hoff set her second American record in as many days as she took the women's 200 meters freestyle in one minute 56.08 seconds to defeat Coughlin for the second time in two days.

Coughlin had set the previous mark, but took ample consolation by her new world record in the backstroke.

Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly and Hoff celebrated another victory and a narrow second-place finish on the final day on Monday.

Phelps won the butterfly in 51.52 seconds, with world-record holder Ian Crocker finishing second, and in his final two races Phelps finished second and sixth.

He was runner-up in the 100 backstroke, 0.14 seconds behind world-record holder Aaron Peirsol. In the 100 breaststroke, Phelps was way back in sixth, with the victory going to world-record holder Brendan Hansen.

With four wins in seven events and a personal best in one of his defeats Monday, Phelps called the weekend a success.

"I was happy with everything but the 400 IM," he said. "Swimming (three events in a day) all in about 40 minutes, is probably not a bad triple."

Hoff capped a weekend in which she broke two American records with her fifth victory of the meet in the 800 freestyle, finishing nearly 15 seconds ahead of the closest competitor.

Hoff finished 0.15 seconds behind Zimbabwe Olympian Kirsty Coventry in the 200 individual medley. Both swimmers threatened the world record through the first seven laps before fading at the finish.

Coventry, who set a world record Saturday in the 200 backstroke, also won the 100 backstroke Monday in 59.47 seconds.

Other winners Monday included Thiago Pereira in the 200 individual medley and Erik Vendt in the 1,500 freestyle. On the women's side, Rachel Komisarz won the 100 butterfly and Tara Kirk the 100 breaststroke.

Amanda Beard, attempting to qualify for her fourth Olympics at 26, finished eighth among the eight finalists in the 100 breaststroke after a fourth-place finish Sunday in the 200 breaststroke. E-mail to a friend

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